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Jotun semi-autonomous hull cleaning robot avoid ship downtime
来源： 编辑：编辑部 发布：2020/03/31 11:05:21
THE Clean Shipping Coalition says the transfer of aquatic organisms and micro-organisms from their native habits to non-native ones via ships?hulls is costing the industry up to US$30 billion per annum.
A new ship-scrubbing semi-autonomous robot is helping owners and operators to deal with this issue to prevent unnecessary fuel consumption and ecological turmoil, said the company statement.
Known as biofouling, the problem results from organisms such as plants, animals and micro-organisms latching onto submerged structures and surfaces, including ships?hulls and being transported many miles across the ocean, reports London's Vessel Performance Optimization.
These organisms can then leave the ship in an area that may be completely different to their native environments, thereby disrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem they have just inhabited.
DNV GL's principal consultant Saratha Raj says he sees: "Increased attention from port authorities who are threatened by risk of invasive aquatic species. Ships can be stopped outside ports and told they have a dirty hull and they need to clean the hull before they can enter. That can be an extremely expensive process."
What's more is that biofouling creates an additional layer of resistance across the ship's surface, increasing a vessel's fuel consumption and exacerbating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The problems of biofouling today include a 20-30 per cent inefficiency in fuel consumption in shipping, according to Alenius Wilhelm Sen senior vice-president Geri Fagerheim.
Shipowners and operators are under increasing pressure to ensure smooth and resistance-free ship hulls to mitigate the issues of biofouling. This work is often done either in dry-dock, increasing ship downtime, or during port visits.
For the last four years, Norwegian coatings and paint manufacturer Jotun has been working in collaboration with other maritime players to develop a new innovative solution that will address these issues.
The solution is called Jotun HullSkating Solutions (HSS) which delivers individual proactive condition monitoring services tailored for each vessel, using a proprietary algorithm and big data to accurately predict fouling development and cleaning schedules. HullSkater also features a self-powered built in drive line for high speed maneuvering.
One of the key offerings as part of the HullSkating Solutions package is the semi-autonomous robotic technology that sits permanently onboard a vessel, ready to be deployed for hull cleaning at any given time. This technology is known as HullSkater and was developed in collaboration with Kongsberg.
HullSkater is a piece of technology that operates underwater, in all sorts of harsh and challenging environments, cleaning the surface of the vessel with specially designed motorised brushes that prevent hull surface and paint damage. It removes individual bacteria and biofilm before macro-fouling takes hold.
HullSkater features magnetic wheels, the force of which allows the technology to stay attached to the vessel. Each wheel is equipped with electric motors for propulsion and steering and the vehicle is fitted with four digital cameras and sensors to generate high quality film and images that are immediately available to the user.
The vehicle is connected to the operator's control centre through an umbilical and can be operated remotely for vessels anywhere in the world with 4G coverage. Inspection and cleaning of the hull will normally take between two and eight hours, depending on size and condition.
A new ship-scrubbing semi-autonomous robot is helping owners and operators to deal with this issue to prevent unnecessary fuel consumption and ecological turmoil, said the company statement.
Known as biofouling, the problem results from organisms such as plants, animals and micro-organisms latching onto submerged structures and surfaces, including ships?hulls and being transported many miles across the ocean, reports London's Vessel Performance Optimization.
These organisms can then leave the ship in an area that may be completely different to their native environments, thereby disrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem they have just inhabited.
DNV GL's principal consultant Saratha Raj says he sees: "Increased attention from port authorities who are threatened by risk of invasive aquatic species. Ships can be stopped outside ports and told they have a dirty hull and they need to clean the hull before they can enter. That can be an extremely expensive process."
What's more is that biofouling creates an additional layer of resistance across the ship's surface, increasing a vessel's fuel consumption and exacerbating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The problems of biofouling today include a 20-30 per cent inefficiency in fuel consumption in shipping, according to Alenius Wilhelm Sen senior vice-president Geri Fagerheim.
Shipowners and operators are under increasing pressure to ensure smooth and resistance-free ship hulls to mitigate the issues of biofouling. This work is often done either in dry-dock, increasing ship downtime, or during port visits.
For the last four years, Norwegian coatings and paint manufacturer Jotun has been working in collaboration with other maritime players to develop a new innovative solution that will address these issues.
The solution is called Jotun HullSkating Solutions (HSS) which delivers individual proactive condition monitoring services tailored for each vessel, using a proprietary algorithm and big data to accurately predict fouling development and cleaning schedules. HullSkater also features a self-powered built in drive line for high speed maneuvering.
One of the key offerings as part of the HullSkating Solutions package is the semi-autonomous robotic technology that sits permanently onboard a vessel, ready to be deployed for hull cleaning at any given time. This technology is known as HullSkater and was developed in collaboration with Kongsberg.
HullSkater is a piece of technology that operates underwater, in all sorts of harsh and challenging environments, cleaning the surface of the vessel with specially designed motorised brushes that prevent hull surface and paint damage. It removes individual bacteria and biofilm before macro-fouling takes hold.
HullSkater features magnetic wheels, the force of which allows the technology to stay attached to the vessel. Each wheel is equipped with electric motors for propulsion and steering and the vehicle is fitted with four digital cameras and sensors to generate high quality film and images that are immediately available to the user.
The vehicle is connected to the operator's control centre through an umbilical and can be operated remotely for vessels anywhere in the world with 4G coverage. Inspection and cleaning of the hull will normally take between two and eight hours, depending on size and condition.